Hometeam: North Middlesex's Dawson gets NFL call

Sunday

Jan 20, 2013 at 3:00 PMJan 20, 2013 at 5:13 PM

Mike Dawson wasn't looking to change jobs, but when the NFL comes calling, it's hard to say no. Dawson resigned as the North Middlesex athletic director to take a coaching position with the Philadelphia Eagles under new coach Chip Kelly.

Dawson resigned as the North Middlesex athletic director to take a coaching position with the Philadelphia Eagles under new coach Chip Kelly. Dawson and Kelly coached together at the University of New Hampshire before Dawson left in 2006 to become the linebackers coach at Akron.

Dawson said the past few days have been a blur since he got an unexpected call from Kelly late Friday night.

“It came very fast,” Dawson said. “(Kelly) said he'd be interested in having me come down and being a part of this. I was obviously taken back by it and very appreciated of the opportunity. I talked to Joan Landers, the North Middlesex Regional Superintendent yesterday afternoon and she couldn't have been better and more understanding.”

Dawson, who graduated from North Middlesex in 1993, had just started his first full season as the Patriots' athletic director after resigning as the special teams coach at Boston College in 2011. He said he hadn't been pursuing any coaching jobs, so he was surprised when his old friend asked him to join him in Philadelphia.

“I've kept in contact with him through the years, but it was never anything like, 'well if he moves and goes somewhere else then I'm his guy,' ” Dawson said. “It was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up, I don't know if I'd ever get an opportunity like that again.”

Dawson is leaving for Philadelphia on Wednesday and will start with the Eagles Thursday, although his job title still has yet to be determined.

“We're probably going to define that when I get down there,” Dawson said. “I'm going to be an assistant on the defensive side of the ball in some capacity. I'm going to be around some great coaches when I get down there, some of those guys brought me up.”

Dawson will get to work with two of his coaching role models with the Eagles -- former Oregon assistant head coach Jerry Azzinaro and former Boston College linebackers coach Bill McGovern, who along with former UNH coach Sean McDonnell have been his biggest influences.

“Jerry Azzinaro and Bill McGovern have been fathers in football to me, as far as they both coached me at UMass, and when I started coaching they've been the guys I've been able to ask questions to,” Dawson said. “The fact I'm going to be on the same side of the ball with those guys in the NFL — I'm still in shock.”

Dawson's wife, Jodi, is a teacher in Sudbury and grew up in Philadelphia and has a family full of Eagles fans.

“We're all excited for the new job but she was like, 'any other team but the Eagles,' ” Dawson laughed.

Dawson said it was hard to leave North Middlesex, as he grew up in Pepperell and went through the entire school system before attending UMass-Amherst. He said he was happy to be back at the school and enjoyed learning the ropes from other athletic directors in the Midland-Wachusett League.

“This call to go to the NFL would never come again if I don't take it, but if sometime down the road the opportunity to get back into high school administration came up it would be an easier call to get done,” Dawson said. “I absolutely love the kids at North Middlesex and the coaches were great. To work with some of these guys who have been doing it for so long, like (girls' basketball coach) Pat Murphy or (football coach) Sandy Ruggles, who have been doing it for so long, that was great to have on a daily basis.”